The self-described aerospace archeologists so far have meticulously researched, located and visited more than 100 sites across the southwestern United States. Some have held but a few small pieces of debris, while others have yielded huge chunks of airframe.

They focus their energies primarily on historic crashes related to the "Golden Age" of flight test from the 1940s through the 1970s, the era of the exotic, experimental "X-planes" in which Edwards Air Force Base played a key role.

"There's just hundreds and hundreds of stories" surrounding these crashes, Merlin said. "Many contain heroism or great tragedy."

After much prodding from friends and colleagues to share the stories of their work, the two collaborated on a book, "X-Plane Crashes," available from Specialty Press.

The book is packed with research and photos about the pilots and aircraft as well as the circumstances of each crash and the archeologists' efforts to seek out and document the sites.

Monday, December 8, 2008

I have heard from a grape in the vine that EG&G Special Projects is no longer the general contractor at the Groom Lake base. As of 2000, it is now CSC Applied Technologies.

EG&G supposedly still has the transportation contract (running the Janet flights), but CSC handles the operation of the base. (Although the Air Force "owns" the base, the general contractor handles everything from food to maintenance.)

There's a jobs listing at the CSC website. It may provide some corroboration (but my connection is too slow to load it).

In the 1990s, I was the unofficial publicist for Area 51, helping to make it a household name. Although, I am no longer actively researching the base, I may occasionally have some information or links to pass on. This blog and the Tikaboo Peak Page on Facebook are my forums for doing so.

Today, my only interest in the base is historical. (UFOs could be flying in and out all the time and I wouldn't care.) For all the things I have been up to since Area 51, see Glenn-Campbell.com